Department for Transport

Electric Vehicles

The Earl of Shrewsbury: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many charging points for electric vehicles there are across the United Kingdom; and whether they have any proposals for increasing this number.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Government has supported installation of 60,756 chargepoints for plug-in vehicles, including those for domestic use, in the last 10 years. A significant number of chargepoints are being installed without Government funding. Data on all public chargepoints is collected in the National Charge Point Registry.   This Government is aiming for almost every car and van to be a zero emission vehicle by 2050, and we have pledged £500 million over the next five years to achieve this. Further details of this investment will be announced in due course. The Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme is currently funding domestic chargepoints for ultra low emission vehicle motorists.

Shared Spaces

Lord Holmes of Richmond: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the report on shared space Accidents by Design, whether they are considering an immediate moratorium on all existing shared spaces until an impact assessment has been undertaken.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Government is not considering a moratorium on shared space schemes. It is entirely a matter for each local authority to decide what type of traffic management scheme is needed for the roads that they are responsible for, be this shared space or another type of scheme.

Large Goods Vehicles

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 6 July (HL782), what assessment they have made of the case for taking steps prior to their consultation (1) to modify the design of heavy goods vehicles by making side guards, mirrors and other proximity devices mandatory, and (2) to ban heavy goods vehicles, particularly lorries used in construction, from city centres at peak times.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Department for Transport has prepared an assessment of the costs and benefits of fitting side guards and a front mirror above the windscreen to currently exempt vehicles, and this is subject to the clearance process. Side guards are already required on the majority of new vehicles, and a front mirror on vehicles registered from 26 January 2007.   There are no current plans for mandatory proximity devices to detect cyclists alongside heavy vehicles. A full assessment of their effectiveness will be needed before reaching a decision to require such systems.We have no proposals to ban systematically heavy goods vehicles from city centres at peak times. Local authorities have powers under Sections 1 & 2 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, to make Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs). These powers can be used to exclude HGVs either generally or at specified times from roads for which they are considered to be unsuitable.　 It is up to each local authority to balance the need for restrictions against their impact on residents, the local economy and environmental factors.

Rolling Stock: Procurement

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 7 July (HL Deb, col 93–4), whether they consider that local government is capable of assessing the financial and associated risks that go with entering into leasing deals concerning new rolling stock.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Some local authorities already have such expertise and have successfully procured rolling stock in the past. If an authority were looking to do so for the first time then there are a number of expert advisors it could look to, and the Department for Transport would be happy to engage with local authorities to discuss rolling stock leasing.

Railways: Strikes

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they indemnify train operators in any way in respect of strikes called by trade unions so that operators are more likely to resist unreasonable demands.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Secretary of State for Transport has a provision in franchise agreements that does allow him, at his absolute discretion, to ameliorate the net losses of train operators due to industrial action.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

*No heading*

Lord Empey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the situation in Libya.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The UK welcomes the initialling of a political agreement on 11 July to establish a Government of National Accord for Libya, by most of the parties to the Libyan talks. We are grateful to UN Special Representative Secretary General Leon, and neighbouring countries and regional partners for their role in achieving the agreement, and to Kingdom of Morocco for hosting the dialogue. We call on the General National Congress to join the agreement and play a vital role in shaping a new constitution and parliament for Libya.The agreement to establish a Government of National Accord for Libya is an important first step to restoring peace and stability in Libya. There is much to be done. The Libyan people have suffered gravely from the conflict. Infrastructure has been seriously damaged while the depletion of state resources threatens the Libyan economy. The UK remains committed to supporting Libya on its path towards peace and prosperity, and stand prepared to provide assistance to rebuild the country and tackle the growing threat of terrorism in both Libya and neighbouring countries.

Arab Partnership Participation Fund

Lord Chidgey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government by how much they have expanded the Arab Partnership Participation Fund in order to support political and economic reform in the Middle East and North Africa since 2011; to which countries the funds were allocated; and how much was allocated in each case.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The Arab Partnership was created in 2010 as a part of the Government’s response to the Arab Spring. This initiative comprised two parts; the Foreign and Commonwealth Office-led Arab Partnership Participation Fund (APPF) and the Department for International Development-led Arab Partnership Economic Facility (APEF). Since 2011 APPF and APEF programmes have channelled £166m to projects across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to support the development of legitimate and inclusive institutions (including civil society, parliaments, media and judiciaries) to improve governance and enable inclusive economic growth and reform.The APPF was launched in the Financial Year (FY) 2011-2 and provided funding worth £5,195,304. In FY 2014-5 it provided £10,512,791. The total funding from FY 2011-12 up to and including FY 2014-15 was £42,803,007. It was distributed as follows:Algeria£3,798,631Bahrain£227,021Egypt£5,644,406Iraq£1,417,916Jordan£3,286,270Kuwait£130,155Lebanon£917,622Libya£4,458,601Mauritania£215,552Morocco£3,386,058Oman£255,144OPT£625,551Regional£9,595,633Syria£584,961Tunisia£8,180,151UAE£7355  Admin£71,980Total£42,803,007For FY 2015-6, the APPF will allocate £6m of funding to countries not currently receiving Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) funding, including Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia and a small proportion of non-Official Development Assistance funding available for projects in Gulf States (£150k). The CSSF allocation to the MENA region for FY 2105-16 currently stands at £136.5m.

China: Religious Freedom

Lord Ahmed: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of alleged breaches of international law in China regarding the freedom of religion and freedom to worship without being harassed.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We remain concerned by the human rights situation in China, not least all restrictions to freedom of religion or belief.As a member of the UN Human Rights Council, China is bound to respect the international commitments to which it is a party. As such, we consistently call on China to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – we last did so at the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue in April.We continue to raise areas where we assess China’s actions are not in line with either its international human rights commitments or its own constitution. We highlight these, and our broader range of concerns, in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy. We also make representations in international fora such as the UN Human Rights Council.

Namibia: Germany

Lord Steel of Aikwood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Germany regarding compensation for the descendants of the Herero and Nama people killed by German colonial troops in German South-West Africa in 1904–08.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The British Government has not made representations to the Government of Germany on this matter.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Regulation

Lord Mendelsohn: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which third parties are contracted to verify regulatory savings, and in each case, which savings they verified.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Under the provisions of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 (the Act), the Government must appoint an independent body to verify assessments economic impact on business activities within 12 months of the start of the Parliament.   The independent verification body has not yet been formally appointed, but its appointment will be announced shortly.

Regulation

Lord Mendelsohn: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the last Parliament, which regulations were introduced and which were removed, listed by the clusters of which two were removed for each regulation introduced.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The calculation of One-in, Two-out was based on finding £2 of deregulatory savings for every £1 of new regulatory costs, rather than by counting the number of regulations introduced or removed. The details of the costs and savings found are set out in the Ninth Statement of New Regulation, which is available from the gov.uk website.

Overseas Students

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that overseas students continue to consider studying in the United Kingdom.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: study here. The Government promotes study in the UK through the Britain is GREAT marketing campaign and through the British Council, which promotes UK education in over 100 countries, connecting millions of people with the United Kingdom.   The Government also has major education agreements with overseas partners. Key programmes include the UK-China Partners in Education Programme, the UK-India Education Research Initiative and engagement in Brazil’s ‘Science without Borders’ scholarship scheme. It has also tripled funding (to £48m) in 2014/15 for Chevening scholarships for international students with leadership potential.   Government also supports student exchange, such as through the Erasmus Scheme, which enables international students to take short placements in the UK and British students to gain valuable overseas experience.

Department for International Development

Crimes of Violence: Females

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to appoint an International Violence Against Women Champion.

Baroness Verma: The Secretary of State for International Development and I, champion this issue every day as part of the department’s broader plan to improve the prospects of women and girls overseas. Gender is mainstreamed across all DFID programmes and we are proud of the impact the department has achieved in tackling violence against women and girls, not least through the 2014 Girl Summit which focused on eradicating Female Genital Mutilation and Early and Forced Child Marriage.

Gaza: International Assistance

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much of the money pledged to Gaza for aid and reconstruction by donors at the Cairo conference in October 2014 has so far been received.

Baroness Verma: According to the World Bank, as of May 15th 2015, 27.5% of the pledges made at the Cairo conference in October 2014 had been disbursed. The UK pledged £20 million in early recovery assistance at the conference. We have disbursed over 80% of the pledge and the remaining will be disbursed this financial year, focussing largely on getting businesses back to work.

Syria: Refugees

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for changing the emphasis in aid for Syrian refugees from relief towards empowerment and sustainable human and economic development.

Baroness Verma: While humanitarian aid is still needed to respond to the Syria crisis, the protracted nature of the Syria crisis means that this must be complemented by longer term support for the empowerment and human and economic development of Syrian refugees. The UK is leading by example by shifting the emphasis of UK aid from short term emergency relief to longer term approaches, including by providing multi-year funding commitments to our partners, and encouraging other donors to do the same. A good example of this is UK support for education under the No Lost Generation Initiative.

Ministry of Justice

Data Protection

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the amount which the Information Commissioner’s Office can spend on data protection activities in the current financial year has been calculated.

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in respect of data protection activities in the current year by the Information Commissioner’s Office, how much has been spent and how much is still available to spend.

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps have been, and are being, taken by the Information Commissioner’s Office to ensure that there is no underspend of income allocated for data protection activities by the end of the current financial year, and to ensure that the available income is used for data protection activities rather than being remitted to the Consolidated Fund.

Lord Faulks: The Information Commissioner’s Office’s (ICO) data protection activities are funded by fees from organisations that process personal data. The amount available to spend each year is dependent on the number of organisations that notify with the ICO but is currently profiled to be £18.5M in 2015/16. The ICO has spent £4.7M on data protection activities in the first quarter of 2015/16.   Any money collected but not spent by the ICO is remitted to the Consolidated Fund. The ICO did not remit any data protection income to the Consolidated Fund in 2014/15 and there is a similar expectation for 2015/16.

Care Proceedings: Immigrants

Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many unaccompanied migrant children appeared in the family courts in relation to care proceedings in 2014.

Lord Faulks: Information on the number of unaccompanied migrant children who appeared in the family courts in relation to care proceedings is not collected centrally.

Ministry of Defence

Nuclear Submarines

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there has been any decision on the storage of nuclear reactor compartments from the growing number of decommissioned nuclear submarines in United Kingdom ports; and when those submarines will be broken up.

Earl Howe: A public consultation about the location of an interim store for intermediate level radioactive waste removed from decommissioned nuclear submarines concluded on 20 February 2015. The Ministry of Defence expects to announce the site location during 2016. A submarine at Rosyth will undergo initial dismantling, to demonstrate and refine the process. The first stage is removal of low level radioactive waste, which is planned for 2016, subject to approval from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

Military Bases: Leuchars

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what grades of accommodation, houses and barracks are currently at the military base at Leuchars, Fife; what upgrades to the accommodation are planned and by when; and what preparations have been made concerning improvements to health, dentistry and education services for those stationed at Leuchars.

Earl Howe: The Standard for Condition (SfC) of the military accommodation at Leuchars is shown in the following table:  S1fCS2fCS3fCS4fCUnrecordedTotalService Family Accommodation (SFA) 533 7 0 0 5 545Single Living Accommodation (SLA) 0 184 477 163 0 824 Given the good condition of the Service Family Accommodation (SFA) at Leuchars, there are no plans for any improvement works. Works are due to commence at the end of this year to improve and refurbish Single Living Accommodation (SLA) at Leuchars. The work will consist of upgrading and re-configurating rooms. The Department has been working with NHS Fife and Defence Primary Healthcare Scotland and Northern Ireland to ensure that the required medical facilities are in place at Leuchars Station. Regular meetings to ensure all parties understand the requirements and issues associated with the transition have also taken place. Representatives also visited the units in Germany to reassure people about the level of services available when they moved.New medical posts have been created at Leuchars Station and the practice is also preparing to accredit as a GP training practice in order to provide an effective service. The Ministry of Defence has provided around £1.2 million through its Education Support Fund to Fife Council since 2011. Fife Council has guaranteed that every child of primary and secondary school age will be allocated a school place.

Meteor Missiles: Procurement

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Meteor BVRAAMs have been ordered; and what is the delivery schedule for those missiles.

Earl Howe: Deliveries of Meteor BVRAAM commenced for all buying nations, including the United Kingdom, in December 2013 following successful qualification of the missile design. Current plans will see this continue until 2020. I am withholding information about the quantities of missiles ordered as disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces and also relations between the United Kingdom and other states.

Armed Forces Covenant: Northern Ireland

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 6 July (HL852), why no representatives of the Northern Ireland Executive take part in the decision making process for the allocation of the £35 million fund.

Earl Howe: I refer the noble Lord to the answer given by my right hon. Friend, the then Minister for Defence Personnel, Veterans and Welfare (Anna Soubry) to the right hon. Member for Lagan Valley (Mr Donaldson) on 26 January 2015 to Question 221491. The invitation to join the Covenant Reference Group remains open and if the Northern Ireland Executive wishes to accept, an invitation will also be extended to sit on the decision panel for future Covenant funding.   



Armed Forces Covenant Reference Group
(Word Document, 27.5 KB)

Home Office

Illegal Immigrants: France

Lord Mawson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what practical support is being given in Calais to lorry drivers.

Lord Bates: Border Force provides advice, guidance and an online checklist for haulage companies on how to secure their vehicle. To help avoid penalties and improve security, companies can also apply for Border Force Accreditation. There are assorted translations available.Border Force have provided hauliers and drivers with both emergency and non emergency numbers to use in Northern France. These numbers have been shared with the Road Haulage Association, The Freight Traffic Association and others.Companies can take positive measures to improve vehicle security against clandestine activity and avoid penalties by following the codes of practice and applying for Border Force Accreditation. Sign up is simple and can be completed following instructions online at gov.ukThe Border Force Accreditation scheme enables hauliers to demonstrate their commitment to improving the physical security of their vehicle. To be part of the scheme traders need to ensure they have undertaken thorough checks of their vehicles at each step of their journey and have employed sufficient preventative security measures to reduce the risk of being breached. There has been a significant increase in the number of companies joining the scheme.Provisions for imposing penalties on individuals or companies are including in the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (Section 32). The provisions are underpinned by two codes of practice, details of which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/secure-your-vehicle-to-help-stop-illegal-immigration. Drivers and owners can object against the penalty and provide further evidence and there is also an appeal to County Court available, all details of both are provided when a penalty is imposed.Following a Ministerial summit with key representatives from the haulage and food transport industries the summit in March, we have been taking forward a programme of work to develop our partnership with the haulage sector, including: engaging with international partners such as the European Commission and European trade bodies; and encouraging better information exchange between industry and law enforcement.As part of this ongoing work, Immigration Minister James Brokenshire hosted a series of round table discussions with industry to discuss what more can be done to improve vehicle security and reduce the clandestine threat to the haulage sector.The Government is providing funding to bolster the security and infrastructure of ports in Northern France and Belgium. This includes investment in ports in Northern France and Belgium to improve security and infrastructure and traffic fluidity with a revised port layout with £12 million committed by the UK under the Joint Declaration with France announced in September 2014. This fund has been used to reinforce security at the juxtaposed ports including installation of fencing around the Calais port and the approach road. There are plans to improve security at Coquelles Eurotunnel site including installing National Barrier Asset fencing which will be installed at Coquelles during July to help reinforce port security.On 14 July the Home Secretary announced in Parliament the creation of a new secure zone at the port of Calais for UK bound lorries. This will provide a secure waiting area for 230 vehicles - the equivalent of removing a two-and-a-half mile queue from the approaching road. This should transform protection for lorries and their drivers removing them from the open road where they can become targets for migrants attempting to board their vehicles.

Slavery

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the guidance to businesses on what to include within their slavery and trafficking statements will be published.

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the passing of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, when the secondary legislation setting the turnover threshold for businesses will be laid before Parliament.

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the passing of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, what progress has been made on plans to set up a central website on which businesses can lodge their slavery and trafficking statements.

Lord Bates: The transparency in supply chains consultation ended on 7 May 2015, and we received 181 responses. We are considering those responses carefully and will publish the Government’s response shortly. The statutory guidance will be developed in consultation with business partners during summer 2015 and published to coincide with commencement of the provision which we expect to be later this year. Responses to the consultation included suggestions on the development of a central website to hold the slavery and trafficking statements and we are exploring options for delivering this.

Asylum: Detainees

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to improve the fast-track detention system.

Lord Bates: The Government’s position on DFT was set out in the Written Ministerial Statement laid on 2 July:http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201516/cmhansrd/cm150702/wmstext/150702m0001.htm



WMS - 2nd July
(Word Document, 31.5 KB)

Immigration: Northern Ireland

Lord Browne of Belmont: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many unresolved (1) asylum, and (2) immigration, cases there have been in each parliamentary constituency in Northern Ireland since May 2010.

Lord Bates: The number of outstanding asylum claims recorded as associated with each Northern Ireland parliamentary constituency can be found in in the attached table 1. The figures that have been provided relate to main applicants who have made an asylum claim between 1 May 2010 and 31 March 2015 whose claim was recorded as unresolved where an individual is either awaiting an initial decision on their claim, in the appeal process or considered to be a failed asylum seeker.The number of outstanding immigration cases recorded as associated with each Northern Ireland parliamentary constituency can be found in the attached table 2. The figures that have been provided relate to main applicants who have made an immigration application between 1 May 2010 and 31 March 2015, whose application was recorded as unresolved where an initial decision had not been served or was made after 31 March 2015.The data has been compiled using a breakdown of the latest published statistics, by identifying the latest valid postcode on the Case Information Database (CID). For Northern Ireland postcodes, this was then matched to the ONS Postcode database to associate it with a parliamentary constituency and local authority as far as possible. This postcode is the most recently recorded postcode for correspondence purposes and may not be represent the applicant’s of place of residence or be the same postcode provided at the time of applying. For example, this may be the solicitor or immigration advisor of the applicant. For data protection purposes, cohorts of fewer than 10 people have been indicated with a *.



Table 1 and Table 2 - Outstanding Cliams
(Word Document, 14.12 KB)

Police: Biometrics

Lord Scriven: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 2 March (HL5118), whether the review of the framework within which the police use and retain custody images has been completed; if not, why not; and if so, what advice they have circulated to police forces.

Lord Bates: The review is not completed and therefore no advice has been circulated to the Forces. It is very important that the issues identified by the review are properly tested with operational decision makers, so as to appropriately balance the protection of personal data and privacy with the public protection benefits and the operational need.Due to the complexity of the issues raised in the evidence gathering stage and the number of important stakeholders, we now do not expect to complete the review and recommendations before September 2015.

Scotland Office

Public Expenditure: Scotland

Lord Forsyth of Drumlean: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they plan to publish the new fiscal framework agreed with the Scottish Government.

Lord Dunlop: The Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and the Deputy First Minister met on 8 June where they agreed that they would aim to conclude negotiations on the fiscal framework that will underpin the financial provisions of the Scotland Bill by the autumn, in tandem to the timetable for the Bill.

Armed Forces: Cadets

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many cadet units are attached to state schools in Scotland.

Lord Dunlop: The local Army Brigade (51st Infantry Brigade and Headquarters Scotland) has established a ‘Linked Detachment Programme’ which aims to extend the cadet experience into State Schools using the Army Cadet Force’s syllabus. Currently, there are 11 training groups in 6 schools totalling nearly 150 pupils. They are based at:· Govan High School (2 groups totalling 22 pupils);· Broxburn Academy (3 groups totalling 37 pupils);· Lasswade High School (2 groups totalling 25 pupils);· Hawick High School (2 groups totalling 25 pupils);· Viewforth Academy (1 group of 16 pupils);· Kirkcaldy High School (1 group of 16 pupils).

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Sellafield

Lord Judd: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to improve the security of the nuclear waste currently stored at Sellafield; and what arrangements are in place to monitor progress, efficiency and value for money.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: Security of nuclear waste and Sellafield is a high priority for the Government. However the Government does not comment on security at nuclear sites. Expenditure on security is subject to the same processes and rules as other public expenditure.

Renewable Energy: EU Law

Lord Browne of Belmont: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the cost to the public purse of implementing the European Union Renewable Energy Directive in each year since it came into force.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: I refer the noble Lord to the answer given in the House of Commons by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Energy and Climate to the hon. Member for Greenwich and Woolwich on 8 July 2015 to Question 4982:http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-06-30/4982/

Nuclear Reactors: Safety

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the concerns expressed by the French nuclear safety authority regarding the safety of the European Pressurised Reactor in France; and what action they are taking based on this assessment, in the light of plans to install such reactors at Hinkley Point.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: The UK has a robust regulatory system and any nuclear reactor used in the UK must meet our rigorous safety, security and environmental standards.   Government is aware of the issues in relation to the EPR at Flamanville and we continue to monitor the situation. The planned EPR at Hinkley Point C is subject to the UK regulatory regime. The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) is responsible for safety regulation of the UK industry and remains appropriately engaged with the French nuclear regulator with regard to the issue at Flamanville. The ONR has said that they expect learning from the EPR under construction at Flamanville to be taken into account in the manufacture of components intended for the planned new reactor at Hinkley Point C.

Cabinet Office

Conflict Prevention

Lord Chidgey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what revisions they have made in the six-monthly review of Countries at Risk of Instability since the publication of the Building Stability Overseas Strategy in 2011.

Lord Bridges of Headley: The Countries at Risk of Instability (CRI) report is a classified assessment and we do not make public the revisions made in any reviews. We now produce the CRI report on an annual basis to align the CRI with the annual review of Conflict Security Stability Fund spending and since 2011 have undertaken four reviews. The methodology is regularly reviewed to improve the accuracy of the report.

English Votes for English Laws

Baroness Andrews: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which Acts of Parliament passed since 1985 would have fallen into the category of a law which affects England alone, as set out in the statement by the Leader of the House of Commons on 2 July; and what percentage of the total number of laws passed since 1985 this represents.

Baroness Stowell of Beeston: The Government has not performed a retrospective assessment of the application of the proposed new rules, as to do so would rely upon past devolution settlements. In applying the rules in future, the certification of Bills introduced would be a matter for the Speaker of the House of Commons.

Department of Health

Congenital Abnormalities

Lord Rooker: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the United Kingdom compares with other European Union member states in respect of the number of pregnancies affected by neural tube defects.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The prevalence of neural tube defects in live births, fetal deaths (over 20 weeks’ gestation) and terminations of pregnancy for fetal anomaly between 2007 and 2011 in the British Isles Network of Congenital Anomaly Registers, registers (covering 36% of the births in England and Wales) was 11.9 per 10,000 births.   In European Surveillance of Congenital Anomalies registries the prevalence rates range from 4.4 per 10,000 births to 21.6 per 10,000. Differences in total prevalence rates over time or between regions may reflect a number of factors including genetic and environmental differences.   We are not aware that any Ministers have attended any formal meetings with countries outside the European union member states where policies on reducing the number of neural tube affected pregnancies have been discussed.

Congenital Abnormalities

Lord Rooker: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent discussions ministers have had with countries outside the European Union regarding policies and actions to reduce the number of neural tube defect-affected pregnancies.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The prevalence of neural tube defects in live births, fetal deaths (over 20 weeks’ gestation) and terminations of pregnancy for fetal anomaly between 2007 and 2011 in the British Isles Network of Congenital Anomaly Registers, registers (covering 36% of the births in England and Wales) was 11.9 per 10,000 births.   In European Surveillance of Congenital Anomalies registries the prevalence rates range from 4.4 per 10,000 births to 21.6 per 10,000. Differences in total prevalence rates over time or between regions may reflect a number of factors including genetic and environmental differences.   We are not aware that any Ministers have attended any formal meetings with countries outside the European union member states where policies on reducing the number of neural tube affected pregnancies have been discussed.